


Welcome To Videoland

by Helenadorf



Series: Captain N: Remastered, Season 1 [1]
Category: Captain N: The Game Master, Metroid Series, Rockman | Mega Man Classic, 光神話 | Kid Icarus (Video Games), 悪魔城ドラキュラ | Castlevania Series
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Captain N Rewrite, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 02:20:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20574833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Helenadorf/pseuds/Helenadorf
Summary: EPISODE ONE. One fateful day, a Californian teen named Kevin Keene is transported from his room to a mysterious and wonderful world where video games are real. There, not only does he meet some of the greatest heroes on the NES, but he also meets a strange girl named Lana, in the midst of an attack by some of the most deadly baddies he can think of.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the start of my first real series; Captain N: Remastered!
> 
> Concept here is simple, and the thing that basically everyone who's watched this show has attempted; rewriting Captain N to be, um, more accurate. This baby, I've been working on since _high school_ and set my due date for today: Captain N's 30th anniversary!
> 
> (Speaking of which, Valentine20xx originally beat me to the title. If you're curious about their version, it's here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20063104/chapters/47515663)
> 
> Hopefully adaptational changes will be evident as they come up. Otherwise, there are no warnings that you guys should need, since this series is a firm E for Everyone. This first episode is coming out on the anniversary, but subsequent episodes will be coming out every Saturday onwards until I hit the end of Season 1. Season 1 is 13 episodes, so that'll be until the end of November.
> 
> This story also takes place in the year the original show came out, ie; 1989. What, in-universe, has canonically happened or not happened yet is hard to explain, but that does mean that Kevin's knowledge base is limited to what games came out by that year _in America_. You'll see what effect that has on the story later on.
> 
> I worked really, really long and hard on this, so I hope you guys enjoy it! Thank you so much to my friends Boo, Kibby and Zack for being my beta readers!

*

The shields weren’t supposed to go down.

Lana ascended the steps of the Palace of Power so quickly she nearly tripped over herself— and did her best not to consider the fact that there were still thousands more to climb before she was anywhere _close_ to her destination. She could hear enemies leaping into position behind her, perching on columns and climbing the walls. Wildlife of Zebes, creatures of the Underworld, and reprogrammed goons from Monstropolis alike chased her, like lionesses after a wildebeest. Lana’s peripheral vision told her that a Sniper Joe was about to fire at her.

She charged up her Power Glove, focusing energy into her fist, and threw a punch towards the Joe. The blue energy blast that shot from it blew the Joe into pieces and scattered them onto the floor several feet below.

And still, the rest were in pursuit, infesting the only home she knew.

Lana was able to make it another floor up before a Scree swooped down and knocked into her back. She screamed, falling forward and smacking her forehead on one of the steps in front of her. She slid down and grabbed the railing before she could start properly tumbling down the staircase. Flipping her head back up, she watched the Scree turn in an arc back towards her. This time, she didn’t need to focus too much energy before she struck— she slammed her fist into the creature’s face, and it burst.

She hauled herself to her feet and jumped the extra step over the Scree. The trek continued this way until she reached the highest spire of the Palace, only defeating the enemies who were an immediate threat and forcing herself to ignore the rest until she was in a position to fight back. Once she finally hit solid floor, she had her chance to charge energy into the Power Glove again.

Two Joes landed in front of her. There were two more behind her, and three Mellows flew overhead, circling her as well. Lana stopped on her toes and stepped back to dig down her heels, bending her scraped knees and focusing on the enemies around her. They were going to strike her all at once. _Good_.

When the Joes fired and the Mellows swung down, Lana released a forcefield from the Power Glove and spread it around herself. Buster shots bounced off the field and destroyed the robots that fired them. Bellows crashed into it and collapsed onto the marble. Satisfied that the sounds of footsteps were far enough away to warrant a breath of relief, Lana nodded and charged forward.

She came up to a long bridge, from which she could see the ground below the Palace and the surrounding field, with monsters and robots trudging across the earth like hordes of zombies. She didn’t dare get too good of a look, not if she wanted to get to where she needed to be with her hope of victory intact. The bridge lead into another hallway, adorned with statues of heroes from worlds far away.

Lana finally made it to the room she was looking for. A wide, tall chamber with an enormous computer at its back, taking up the entire far wall. The primary monitor, the largest one hoisted onto the center, radiated a comforting blue glow.

“You made it,” it said.

Lana’s shoulders felt heavy, her knees wanted to buckle, and she was bruised all over. But she greeted the computer with a shaky smile and said, “I’d better have. I’m here to protect you.”

The Palace Mainframe revealed its console input from the equipment seated in front of itself. Lana put both of her hands on it, taking some of her own weight off of her feet for a moment, before typing in a few commands. The monitor flickered and revealed a red recording dot extending a microphone for her to use.

She licked her dry lips and spoke: “To all heroes… Any that can hear my message…”

Lana cleared her throat of the crack that strained her voice. She pulled air into her lungs, looking up at the computer as though for support. She was perhaps about to get the last part of her request out in a collected manner when she heard the thunder of approach from the hallway, warning her of the battle she was just barely ready for.

Ultimately, she ended her message in a cry: “PLEASE HELP ME!”

* * *

“_Kevin_…”

The gentle warning snapped Kevin out of the world of _Metroid_, his thumb instinctively hitting the SELECT button to pause the game. He looked over his shoulder at the same time that his dog Duke lifted his head off the ground to see his mom peek through the door, still dressed in her work clothes. Kevin set the controller down and walked over to greet her.

“In my defense, I was waiting for you to get home,” he said. “You didn’t warn me you were working late again.”

His mom sighed. “I’m sorry, sweetie. Thank you for leaving dinner in the fridge for me.” She tugged him forward by his shoulders and kissed him on the forehead.

“Where did you get sent off to this time?” Kevin asked.

“Long Beach— traffic everywhere there and back, but at least it was an interesting story. See, a girl went missing from an arcade down there a few months ago…”

Mom talked about an investigation, how the police had a suspect for the girl’s disappearance: the guy who ran the arcade and saw her there every day after she came home from school. According to the owner himself, though, he hadn’t seen anything happen: no cars pulling into the lot, no strangers in the alley, nothing. After the police started to suspect it was because he was the culprit himself, they started checking around.

“The only car to leave that lot at the time was the owner’s,” she said. “I’ll get an interview with the girl’s father soon. I have enough notes to start writing, though, and hopefully I’ll have something to hand in to the editor before the end of the week.”

Kevin was used to hearing about his mom’s articles before they were published— having someone to bounce things off of helped her figure out how to put it into written words. He’d never seen her miss a deadline. She’d landed the job three years ago and was already probably the paper’s best asset, and Kevin was proud of her for that.

“Maybe they’ll pay you on time for once,” Kevin said.

“Don’t I wish?”

Still. Call him a mama’s boy or whatever, but he worried. She’d been a pile of stress ever since he was ten. He couldn’t help much with that, and always wanted to do more.

“I know it’s a weekend, but you don’t want to mess up your sleeping habits,” Mom chided softly. “So don’t stay up too late playing video games, okay?”

“Okay.”

Though she turned to leave, her eye was caught by a pile of laundry Kevin hadn’t touched in over two weeks. Mom picked up one of the shirts off the top of it, turned her head and gave Kevin a disapproving look, to which he took no real offense.

“Your room is like, ten times worse, Mom,” he said.

“I don’t pile my clothes on the floor,” she replied, dropping the shirt back into the pile. “_I_ dump them all on the foot of the bed, where they can make a lovely second cover to keep me warm at night.”

“Sure, and besides, the floor’s a _great_ place for your work papers, and your research papers, the half-a-billion newspaper clippings you keep like a TV detective…” Mom came back in to playfully ruffle his hair, making him grin. “Don’t you also complain that the air conditioning sucks in your room?”

“Shh. That’s besides the point.” Mom laughed. “Good night, Kevin.”

“Good night, Mom.”

She left the room. Kevin turned back to his game, but got a look at the clock before deciding whether or not to just save the password for this point in the game and go to bed.

10:24PM. Eh, that wasn’t too bad. He could keep playing.

He was on the second-last level, anyway, closing in on Ridley. After this, he had the last stretch of Tourian to go before he needed to defeat Mother Brain and see which ending he’d got. He wasn’t sure when he’d started playing, exactly; it couldn’t have been later than 8PM. He’d probably land the good ending at this rate, then.

It didn’t take long for his brain to sink back into the world of _Metroid_. One part of his brain reminded him of hidden upgrades, remembered the best route to take and how to go about it, acted as a veritable walkthrough of this part of the game alongside every other part. Another part of his brain, well— he couldn’t help it. He imagined what it must be like to _live_ in the game.

He imagined being the one in the heavy armour, jumping from platform to platform, dodging Violas and busting doors open with a flurry of missiles. What it must be like to feel the ache of combat and travel, the stress of the universe’s fate on one’s back, but the pounding determination in his heart to keep going as though he had just as much energy as when he took the first breath of Zebes air through the mouthpiece of the Power Suit’s helmet.

It was something incredible to imagine— _being_ the heroes of his video games, in a way just a little bit different from just playing the game. Sure, he could do that too; go through the puzzles and beat all the enemies and stay aware that he was just a kid sitting in a chair in his room, playing a video game.

But there was something exciting about engaging his brain that extra step, something that flooded him with creativity and wonder. The pixels on-screen were a guideline for his imagination, a base from which to build his own ideas. He wanted to make his own games, someday. Games that would capture other kids just the way the journeys he played on the NES did.

Ultimately, he ended up playing for another half an hour before dying to Ridley several times and giving up. That was the one thing about video games— they were also _very friggin’ hard_.

He shut off his NES and turned away from the TV for a moment. Considering the state of his room, he wondered if it’d be a good idea to at least put his laundry in the laundry basket to do tomorrow. _Set a good example for mom_, he joked to himself.

There was a glow coming from behind him, and Duke suddenly rose to his feet and started growling at the screen.

“Duke! What—” Kevin turned back around. “What is it, boy?...”

Though he finished the sentence, it trailed off as he saw that the TV which had been black a minute ago now illuminated the whole room in a strange, overly powerful blue glow. The lights shut off above him, leaving him to be bathed completely in that colour.

The whole room seemed to empty of reality, in a way Kevin couldn’t explain. He felt like he was suddenly in a dream. It was subtle, but he realized the floor was shaking just slightly. He could hear the lamps on his nightstands and the dirty plates on his dresser rattling. Something fell from a hanger in his open closet.

The glow grew brighter, engulfing more of Kevin and Duke. Duke had now resorted to barking, just as confused as Kevin was, but Kevin couldn’t help but get a little closer to the TV. Carefully, he knelt down and hovered his hand in the air for a moment, and tried to hit the off button.

Nothing. The glow didn’t go away.

He wondered if he should try unplugging it, but he didn’t get that chance. A booming voice echoed throughout his room, saying, “Hero of this world. You are needed in mine.”

“_Hero?_” he repeated.

The glow went on to consume the whole room, before Kevin could even cry out. His vision went completely white, and Duke’s barks faded away after a while. White turned to black, and went silent.

* * *

Kevin wasn’t sure how long he was out, but when he woke up, he was not in his bedroom.

Instead, he found a smooth ceiling above him and a marble floor under his back. The night sky outside was replaced with the unwelcome sun beaming in through massive windows stretching across the entire wall to his left side. Columns held up the upper floor, lined up to the right side of the room.

From his position, he couldn’t see much else. Kevin pushed himself up from the floor, wincing at his pounding head and the fact that he could feel the world spinning beneath him. If his eyes stinging from the harsh light wasn’t enough, the onset dizziness and thumping in his skull were both giving him very good reasons to try and lie back down, throw his arm over his eyes and go back to sleep, or…

…Where was he?

“Are you alright?” asked a voice behind him.

Kevin nearly jumped out of his skin, but as he whirled around, still sitting on the floor, he was greeted by the face of a young girl no older than he was. Her hair was long and dark brown, bangs hanging over her face with a half-ponytail in the back. Her clothes were normal, but on her hand was a big, grey glove that looked familiar, but his brain refused to figure out how.

“I’m, uh…” he wasn’t sure how to respond to that. The panic had woken him up real fast, but he was still confused. “Where am I?”

The girl got up from her knees and extended her gloved hand to him. Accepting it, he was surprised by her strength as he was reeled up to his feet with much less effort than he expected on his own part.

Standing up, he could see now that he was in a long hallway. Outside the window extended a massive field awash in green. From this distance and with his head still nagging him, he couldn’t figure out what was moving across it. The other wall had pathways and doorways, the contents of which he’d have to get a closer look at to identify. Not now, of course.

Right now, the girl was studying him, as though unsure of him. He wondered nervously if something was off about him— his clothes, or something on his face. He didn’t think so, since he was still wearing the clothes he remembered last wearing: his school’s varsity jacket, a yellow t-shirt and baggy jeans. So he probably didn’t look funny. What was it then?

“Not to offend you, but you’re not who I was expecting to see first,” the girl said. “Who are you?”

“I kind of asked a question first…”

“And I’ll tell you in a minute, but first I want to know who you are.”

Kevin decided he didn’t want to argue it. “Um, my name’s Kevin. Kevin Keene.” This was awkward, but he held out a hand to shake.

At the very least, the girl accepted it and shook his hand. Her grip was stronger than his. “Lana.”

Finally, she went back to his original question. “You’re in the Palace of Power,” she said. “You don’t know how you got here?”

“No.” Kevin scratched his head. “Last thing I remember, I was at home, about to get ready for bed. ‘The Palace of Power’? It sounds like it’s out of a video game.”

The girl coughed. “Yeah, uh, about that…”

A rumble echoed from elsewhere in the castle. Kevin startled, looking up at the ceiling as the sound shook the whole building— by the time he looked back at Lana for an explanation, she had a strange look on her face that he couldn’t quite work out.

“We’d better get out of plain sight, first,” she said. “However you got here, you didn’t exactly come at a good time.”

“I can see that…” Regardless, he didn’t hesitate to follow her when she gestured for him to, bounding off down the hall.

She ended up leading him towards an area where there weren’t any windows, and thus concealed them in shadows. It’d be a little tougher to notice them in here, which made him wonder: what was going on that she needed to hide them? What had caused that rumbling just now?

It was there that she explained.

* * *

“So the gist of it is,” Kevin clarified for his own sake, “That I’m in a world where video games are _real_.”

“Mmhmm.”

“And this world—the one I’m currently in—is what you call the Hubworld, ‘cause it connects all those different other worlds together.”

“That’s right.”

“The Palace of Power is the place where all that—I really don’t get how you explained it.”

“Basically, time and space all link up to this castle,” she said. “Like a—like when you need to plug a bunch of different electronics into one place, you use a power bar. This place is that power bar, metaphorically-speaking.”

“’Kay.” He still wasn’t sure he got it, but he rolled with it. “So I’m here, and you don’t know how I got here, and _I_ don’t know how I got here, and also the place is under attack.”

“Yeah, that covers everything.”

Even with it simplified, Kevin wasn’t sure where to _start_ processing that information. Did he start with the completely radical and natural reaction of _this is awesome_? Because this was a dream. On the other hand, though, half of his brain was numb with complete and utter terror.

He set that part aside for now, because now wasn’t the time to start freaking out. After all, there were important things going on that needed more immediate attention, and that took priority over worrying about how he was going to get home. At least for now.

Problem was, he’d been dumped into this situation with no introduction, no instruction manual, and no controls. And no weapons.

Lana shook her head, and Kevin realized he’d been quiet for a few seconds longer than was comfortable. She reached out and tugged on his jacket to reclaim his attention.

“Either way, I’d better get you somewhere safe,” she said. “You don’t look like you can fight.”

Kevin wanted to protest, but come to think of it, he had no way to argue with her. It wasn’t like he’d ever taken self-defence, or even had anything on him that could be used as a weapon. That said, looking at her… “Do _you_ know how to fight?”

Lana nodded and lifted up her glove. “Well enough to get by so far, and I called for reinforcements hours ago. I just hope someone got my message.”

That sounded promising enough. Conceding to her plan, Kevin got to following her down the hall. He still wasn’t sure what was happening on an emotional level, but he was going to do his best to keep up long enough to be able to ask questions later.

* * *

A young angel landed on his feet in the Palace courtyard, flapping his wings as the heavenly glow faded from them. The field before him was vast and lush, but flooded with members of the Underworld where they didn’t belong— as well as a bunch of other bad guys he didn’t recognize. Half of them looked like robots, he guessed? The others looked totally alien!

“Lady Palutena,” he said, speaking to apparently no one. “Is this the place?”

His goddess’ voice spoke as clearly to him as if she were right next to him. “Without a doubt.”

Pit nodded and trudged forward as Lady Palutena explained what this place was, and what it seemed to be for. He did his best to listen and fight at the same time— it didn’t take long for the enemy to notice him and begin their approach. Several Monoeyes swept down in a line. Each of them went out in single flashes of light from Pit’s bow without him breaking stride.

To a Specknose that startled at his appearance, Pit broke his bow into its sword halves and sliced through it. He marched on to the massive castle above the ground, piercing the skies with its towers and soaking in the clouds with light dancing in colours across its pearly walls and the disconnected crystals hovering around it.

“Say,” Pit spoke up, craning his neck uncomfortably far back to get a better look. “How do I get inside? It’s kind of… _far_.”

“There should be a teleport pad right beneath it,” Palutena replied. “Just keep your eyes and weapons on where you’re going!”

No argument there. These enemies were easy to handle so far. A few Underworld baddies, and to break it up he occasionally had to shoot down some weird semi-sphere helicopter things or dodge some freaky mutant bug. They came in small waves now, but if Pit knew his Underworld strategy (and he’d sure hope he did by now!), he’d say something bigger was waiting for him.

The worry that something might happen to Palutena while he was gone was forcefully blocked from his mind, even though it’d already happened once. Landing in the Underworld prison had been nothing compared to being _alone_ when it happened.

Pit never got anywhere by being paranoid. The more important thing right now was to learn who sent that distress call and worry later about why the Underworld Army was active again, with its new friends.

He’d been so deep in fighting that he didn’t realize he found the mini-boss until he charged up and his blade bounced off a seriously sturdy block of metal. Shuddering as the ring screeched in his ears, Pit wobbled backwards and got a second look at what had stopped him in his tracks.

The other robots were like ants compared to _this_ one, with its hulking, one-eyed head and tall column of a body. It stared down as if judging him, before the column collapsed and it leapt into the air.

Yelping, Pit scrambled out of the way just in time for the robot’s shadow to graze his ankle. He tripped onto the grass, reconnected his blades and rolled over, firing at the eye. If it hurt the thing, he couldn’t tell, because it prepared to jump again.

Pit braced himself.


	2. Chapter 2

*

Before the big robot could squash Pit, another, smaller robot landed right on top of it.

This one had a buster glowing in bright blue, pointed right into the bigger robot’s huge pupil, and fired. Pit could _see_ the energy from the buster shot tear through the entire body of the big robot, lengthways, fire and smoke pouring out of its destroyed ‘face’ as it keeled backwards. The smaller robot jumped off of it as it collapsed and landed next to Pit.

“Are you okay?” they asked.

Pit stared a moment. This robot, now that he was getting a better look at it, looked like a human boy in blue armour. Like, a _young_ human boy, no older than ten. What had been a buster a few seconds ago changed into a hand.

Deciding not to question it immediately, Pit leapt back onto his feet and brushed himself off. “Yeah! I’m okay. Nice shooting there, um… What do I call you?”

The boy smiled. He pointed a thumb at himself and said, “My name is Rock, but most people call me Mega Man.”

“Sounds like a superhero’s name.” Pit returned the grin and offered up his own name; “I’m Pit, and I serve the Goddess of Light!”

Palutena spoke up: “Ask him if he got the distress call as well.”

Trusting her, Pit obeyed. “Did you get some kind of message from this place?”

Though Mega Man looked totally blank when Pit mentioned his goddess, he nodded to the question. “Yeah. My creator, Dr. Light, got a mysterious cry for help sent to his computer. I tracked the message and sure enough, it led me here. I guess you got something like that, too?”

“The two of you might not be the only ones,” Palutena said.

Pit echoed that idea. “Me, you, and who knows who else. Hey, Mega Man— why don’t you come with me up to the Palace to figure out what’s going on? It’s always safer in numbers!”

Mega Man didn’t need to consider the idea for long. With a friendly smile, he nodded and agreed, “Okay. I’d be happy to!”

Mega Man offered his hand to shake, and Pit took it. The kid’s grip was gentle, like he was trying not to put too much force into it. Pit didn’t mind. Alliance solidified, they turned to the castle.

“Hey, do you hear something?” He asked suddenly.

Pit blinked, and listened close. At first, he thought he was listening for more baddies; but he didn’t hear pounding heels or whooshing bodies. There was some wind, but that was normal. He didn’t think there was anything coming from the Palace itself, either. But then, his ears caught something in the distance, on the ground. Something way _too_ ordinary, and therefore totally out of place.

“It sounds like there’s a dog?”

* * *

The continued trip through the Palace was a lot tougher than Kevin could expect. He wasn’t exactly a fighter on his own, like Lana had guessed— he considered trying, but every time he got a bit too close for comfort to a Specknose, or a Met, it occurred to him that they were a lot bigger in real life and therefore a lot more threatening than he’d imagined. And by that point, Lana would have already taken it out. To her credit, she was good.

She reminded him of a _Street Fighter_ character with the way she fought. All her power seemed to come from that glove, while the other just kept her balance and helped her aim. At least, that was his guess. He couldn’t really analyze something when he had no clue how it worked.

Lana lead him up several floors, ascending multiple flights of stairs and dodging enemies left and right. Beyond the battles that Kevin was watching at present, there were all kinds of debris and damage that told him that Lana had been fending off bad guys for a while. How long, Lana wasn’t exactly compelled to answer. Not when she had bigger problems at hand.

She carried herself like her limbs were heavy, and she was soaked in sweat. And enemies were still incoming from the distance, hunting them down.

“Lana,” Kevin called up. “You seriously look like you need a breather.”

Lana looked back and opened her mouth, only to hesitate. She slowed to a stop and Kevin stopped next to her. With how hard she was breathing and the way her hair stuck to her face, he doubted she could really argue.

“Only a few minutes,” she said. “There’s a spot nearby that should be…”

She trailed off. There were more approaching footsteps, and Kevin didn’t question it when Lana grabbed him and dragged him into the nearest side hall, covering his mouth with her gloved hand just in case.

Three shadows came down the hall. It was hard to tell what they were, but from what Kevin could see, two of them seemed armed. He kept very still, and Lana slowly raised her gloved fist again. He could see it begin to glow, and to some extent, he wondered if that defeated the purpose of hiding in the first place. Then again…

One of the silhouettes raised their head and barked, and Kevin knew that bark anywhere.

He shot his hand out to lower Lana’s, and called out from their spot. “Duke!” He whistled— “C’mere, boy!”

Sure enough, Duke bounded over and excitedly leapt onto Kevin before he could even get up. If anything, the mass of fur and excitement knocked Kevin right over, and he laughed— Lana seemed perplexed, and carefully scooted back so that she could stand up.

“This is your dog?” she said. “What is your _dog_ doing here?”

“I don’t know,” Kevin replied, petting Duke. “But I’m glad to see him! Who brought you here, buddy?”

Duke stepped off of Kevin in time for him to sit up. The other two shadows turned out to be two more familiar faces, albeit very different ones. He couldn’t help but let his jaw drop as, of all people, Mega Man and Pit stood in the hallway, peering at them.

Lana let out a breath of relief. “Someone got my message. I’m glad.”

There was a pause before Pit actually spoke; not in hesitation, but as if he were listening to someone else talking. “This place belongs to you?”

Lana nodded. “Much as this Palace can belong to _anyone_. My name is Lana. I… already know who the both of you are.”

Mega Man looked over at Kevin, and he almost froze up. The robot master didn’t seem to notice. “And who’s this?”

Kevin had no idea where to even begin justifying his own presence here. At best, he managed to cough and utter an awkward, “I’m— Kevin, Kevin Keene. I woke up here and… and I can’t believe I’m actually talking to the two of you! Both of you are heroes!”

Mega Man smiled, the way a humble celebrity did to someone who recognized them on the street. Pit, on the other hand, seemed to light up with a grin.

“You’re fans of us, huh?” He sounded pretty cheeky about asking. “Well, Kevin, if you want an autograph, you’ll have to speak to my manager!”

Kevin stood up, still feeling distinctly out of place and awed. But if Lana was so composed, that meant she’d been expecting them. She said she’d sent out a message. So then, did she send it to _every_ video game hero out there? Was he going to end up seeing the guys from _Double Dragon_? Link from _The Legend of Zelda_? _Mario_??

Mega Man had his head tilted curiously, as if he wanted to ask a question. Instead, Lana interrupted, and Kevin remembered even before she spoke that there were more important things at hand. “Pit, Mega Man. Right now, I need your help to clear out the castle and fix the shields. I can bring Kevin somewhere safe in the meantime.”

With it, came the reminder that he was also kind of useless. Except… not totally, not anymore. “Lana, if whoever’s behind this brings out one of the tougher Space Pirates, Pit and Mega Man aren’t going to know how to handle them. And even if you can tell them, that just means we’ll _both_ have to go with them.”

She seemed to consider this, as well, but it was Pit that reacted first. “Oh! You know those guys? What’s Zebes?”

“It’s an alien planet far away,” Kevin said. “Normally, there’s a hero named Samus Aran who deals with those guys. On a related note: Mega Man, do you have the Hyper Bomb and the Ice Slasher with you?”

Mega Man startled. He raised his right arm, changing it to a buster. Then, his entire costume changed, from monochrome blue to white and cyan, then to white and green. “Yeah, I’ve got them. How did you know about the copy chip?”

“The what now?” Pit asked. Mega Man quickly explained, then waited for Kevin’s answer.

Kevin struggled a moment. After deciding it was a bit too awkward to say, _I’ve played your video game over a dozen times since it came out_, he instead answered Mega Man’s question with, “I read up.” Technically, it wasn’t a lie.

Mega Man looked a little skeptical, but he dropped the issue. Finally, Lana spoke. “You have a point, Kevin. Come on— let’s get moving.”

* * *

The trek from that point on was much easier now that Lana wasn’t doing all the work. She didn’t seem to relax at all, but there was something very comforting about watching Mega Man and Pit in action, tireless in combat, taking out bad guys with ease. The fact that they were accomplished heroes would have been evident even if Kevin _hadn’t_ played their games and read the instruction manuals and strategy guides to learn what he could.

So far, so good on the worse baddies of _Metroid_, which was to say that they hadn’t seen any. So far it was the same Skrees and Mellows that had been showing up already, up to this point. Kevin wondered what a real Metroid actually sounded and looked like. How big were they, really? How fast did they swim through the air? He was almost nervous one would fly out of nowhere and eat his entire face.

Still, Mega Man’s Ice Slasher and Pit’s arrows made short work of what they did see.

As they moved forwards, Lana explained a little more about how the Palace worked. That glove of hers had more uses than just combat; she brought up some kind of display that showed a full map of the Palace and where they were in it. There was a blue triangle marker on the highest spire, and purple diamonds around the Palace.

“Our first priority is getting the defense systems back up and running,” Lana said. “The crystals around the Palace create the shields, but when the horde first showed up, they did a lot of damage to them. I managed to fix them and I was up trying to re-power them earlier, but I had to come back down when the Palace picked up on…” She glanced at Kevin, then continued. “Anyway, I can make the shields come back stronger than before, and any monsters that’re still hanging around will be gone. Mega Man, Pit, I just need you to help defend while I’m working.”

“Sounds good to me, Lana!” Pit exclaimed, casually knocking out a few more Flying Shells while he spoke. “Hey, Kevin. Were there any particular aliens you were worried about? ‘Cause these guys aren’t so tough!”

“Um, a few,” Kevin replied. He still needed to come to terms with his reality somewhat, and he swallowed the second wave of awe. “There’s some particular baddies that are _really_ dangerous if you don’t know how to deal with them. That’s what we _really_ need Mega Man’s Ice Slasher and Hyper Bomb for.”

“Noted.” Mega Man shot down a few more Octopus Batteries.

Aside from the marathon it took to cross the Palace, the path was as smooth as it was going to get. After a few more hallways and turned corners, enemies became fewer and farther between, as though the bad guys were running out of them. Kevin took this as a sign to relax, and was about to voice this thought when Mega Man spoke up instead.

“Something’s wrong,” he said.

This room was wide and tall, enough to have a rounded balcony peering overhead. It was by no means a dead-end room, as there were two exits on the far wall on either side below the balcony, but it was still isolated. Lana brought up her map again— both doors lead into the next hall lead to the last stairwell they needed to ascend, sure, but it was also deep within the Palace; if they encountered something here, their escape routes were either to run and hole up at their destination, or to turn and bolt in the other direction and hope there wasn’t some one else blocking the way.

They slowed to a stop, and Mega Man raised a hand. Getting the message to be quiet, Kevin wondered what Mega Man had picked up that the rest of them hadn’t. Looking down, Duke’s ears were perked and he seemed to be sniffing the air. Kevin couldn’t imagine what it was, at least not until there was a rumble not unlike the one he’d felt earlier.

And rather than fading, it only seemed to intensify—an earthquake, several miles off the ground.

A tower of segmented armour lined with spikes burst from the floor on the far left side of the room, breaking through the ceiling as well too quickly to see what exactly it was. From the ceiling, the same creature blocked the right-hand exit as well, before the head emerged in front of them and revealed itself to them.

Mega Man and Pit leapt back, and Duke barked furiously as Kevin tried his best to prevent his very brave, very outmatched dog from bounding forward. The chittering creature snapped its massive pincers, and Kevin realized he had no idea what boss this was.


	3. Chapter 3

*

“Okay, Kevin, you’re the alien expert,” Pit said. “How do we handle this?”

Kevin had to think a moment. This creature was never in _Metroid_, he had no idea how exactly to handle it. But it looked like something from the first level or so, with its insect-like appearance and its simple design. (It felt somehow wrong to think in those terms, but it was all he had.) And if it was from an early stage, that meant that the solution was simple: “Bombs. Mega Man, have you still got Hyper Bombs?”

Mega Man changed from blue to white and green. “Hopefully, enough to handle this thing.”

Kevin left them on one more piece of advice, almost too much of a given for a video game enemy: “Aim for the eye!”

There was no need to be told twice. Lana, Mega Man and Pit didn’t hesitate to rush into a fight, with the creature hissing and snapping at Pit first.

Pit was able to dodge, but the thing moved shockingly quick for its size. It threw spikes from its body across the room, and Kevin yelped before Lana dove in front of him with a shield from her Power Glove. Mega Man and Pit both moved between spikes as they soared through the air.

Mega Man produced a bomb from seemingly nowhere. Cartoonish as it was, the moment Mega Man threw it into the creature’s eye, the bomb exploded on contact and caused the creature to thrash violently. It sank into the floor again.

It wasn’t done, of course. None of them were foolish enough to think that.

Instead, it rose again from another hole; it had rearranged itself to be on the left side of the room instead of the center, with the rest of its body weaved between the holes it had vacated. This time, the creature aimed to get rid of Mega Man.

It lashed at the little robot just as he got out another Hyper Bomb. In the rush to dodge, he ended up dropping it; a quick, singular, thrown spike set off the bomb when it was out of range of the creature’s eye and still had Mega Man in its blast radius. Mega Man was thrown back, but Kevin couldn’t see any obvious injuries.

“This thing’s smart,” he managed.

“Not smart enough!” Pit said. He notched a few arrows and fired them all at once.

Where they hit on the creature, Kevin didn’t see, because another volley of spikes shot out at once just before it dove back into the floor. With Lana still shielding him, he guessed that it was about to show up on the right side of the room now, and wondered what else could be done.

“What if we stopped it from moving?” Kevin said. “Mega Man, try using the Ice Slasher to freeze it at the base!”

“Good idea.” Mega Man switched weapons.

The moment the worm raised back up into the room, Mega Man shot the floor around it. Within moments, it was encased all around by a thick layer of ice, sparkling blue and restraining the creature in its spot.

“It worked!” Lana said.

But Mega Man noticed something else. “…Pit, have you been aiming for the eye?”

“Yeah, I may have been ignoring that advice,” Pit admitted. He gestured to the thing’s body.

There were glowing arrows sticking out of the space between the top segment—the head—and the rest of the body. The arrows made it harder for the creature to move its neck, even after it had changed positions so often. In the moment it took for the others to catch onto the plan in mind, Pit decided to make this moment the time to go for the kill.

He charged forward, and the creature unwound its bottom half from the floor to lash at Pit and knock him hard against the wall.

“Pit!” Mega Man cried out.

Nobody except Kevin managed to notice the leather braid wrapped around the worm’s tail and unwinding itself as a figure threw what looked like a cross at its head. The projectile stuck about a metre left of Pit’s head.

After a still moment, the creature’s head fell, and it began to collapse into smoke. Pit dropped onto his butt on the floor, groaning and dazed but otherwise alright. Mega Man ran over to help him up, while Kevin and Lana turned to their unexpected new saviour.

If meeting Pit and Mega Man left Kevin starstruck, _this_ hero had him completely speechless. There was no mistaking that long blond hair, the leather armour and the whip.

“Are you alright?” he asked. His voice was thick with an eastern European accent.

“We are,” Lana confirmed. How was she so capable of being so calm with the living legends surrounding her? Or was she that relieved and exhausted that she just couldn’t muster an extra helping of amazement on top of everything else? “I’m glad you made it, Mr. Belmont. I’m the one who called for help.”

Simon dropped his hand from his whip and looked directly at Lana. He studied her as he spoke: “God relayed your message to me, young one. … The lot of you seem much too young to be fighting these forces by yourselves. Have you been the only ones defending this place?”

“Mega Man and I aren’t just kids!” Pit protested, though his tone was less offended and more eager to brag. “We’re heroes too, you know! And cleaning house has been plenty easy for us!”

Simon frowned, but Mega Man pitched in as well. “Also, we’re, um… Neither Pit nor I are humans, sir. And just because you’re an adult doesn’t mean _you_ should be fighting alone, too.”

Lana cleared her throat for attention. “We’re not splitting up. At least, not until the Palace is secure again. Mr. Belmont, could you please come with us?”

Simon raised a hand. “Please, you may call me Simon. And very well— I am here to help, after all.” He offered them a gentle smile. “Lead the way.”

* * *

If it was easier before, now getting to the top of the Palace was a joke. Simon was a veritable powerhouse, if the display with the giant worm was any indication. Much of the walk, instead, was getting Simon up to speed on who was who and what exactly was going on here. The multiple universes thing had been tricky to explain, but Simon seemed to eventually get it.

“My world is of the year 1691,” Simon explained. “I’m afraid a lot of your… _latter_ era technology and vocabulary is new to me.”

“I dunno what year my world is,” Pit mentioned. “That stuff doesn’t really matter to the gods. What about the rest of you?”

“1989,” Kevin answered. “I think I asked Lana this question and she just shrugged.”

Lana, up at the front, confirmed that statement with another shrug.

“200X,” Mega Man said. “I think that means I’m ahead of everyone.”

"What's that like?" Pit asked.

"Um, techie? I guess? To me, it's just normal."

They came up to the final stretch towards the top; a long bridge crossing from the main tower of the Palace to the largest crystal hovering in its peripheral. The bridge was wide, with a tall rail separating it from the open sky. Daring to peek over, Kevin staggered at the tremendous height from here to the ground— the earth seemed to be so far away, it was like looking from an airplane. The lands below the Palace were sprawling and beautiful, rolling hills and small forests turning the land into a green paradise (save, perhaps, for the bad guys). He could see caves poking out of the earth, and in a massive circle with the Palace at its center, the perimeter of the area was marked by the crystals Lana had been talking about earlier.

Simon tugged him back by his jacket. “Please be careful, young man.”

Kevin forgot English for about ten seconds.

“So, Simon!” Pit chirped, rescuing Kevin from the embarrassing situation. “Which bad guys do you recognize out of ‘em all?”

Simon shook his head. “None of them, but I see that as a positive. It means that my family’s eternal enemy hasn’t resurfaced.”

“I wish we could be as sure,” Mega Man sighed. “Dr. Wily doesn’t know when to quit.”

“I _hope_ Medusa isn’t back again,” Pit said. “She was bad enough the first time, I don’t wanna know how angry she is about getting killed!”

Simon raised an eyebrow. “Medusa? The gorgon?”

“Nah, the goddess!” Pit explained. “Big, personality as nasty as her snakes? She’s the Goddess of the Underworld!”

That just confused Simon more. “The Medusa I know of is nothing more than another one of Hell’s servants, not its _queen_.”

“I think that’s another one of those differences between worlds,” Lana piped in. “So, really, you’re both right.”

“Huh,” was Pit’s response. “Wish I’d fought Simon’s Medusa, then.”

Simon said nothing to that. But, to his credit, he didn’t have to— as they’d reached the end of the bridge, and what stood before them was a series of statues lining either side of this next hallway. And they weren’t statues of just _anyone_.

Kevin could see that each of them was in the likeness of every video game hero he could think of. That on its own was interesting enough, but as he looked over at the three that had joined so far, he noticed that Pit, Mega Man and Simon had all taken notice of their own statues.

Pit’s was close to the beginning of the hall, set up across from Link on the left side. It was larger than life, but otherwise had the angel’s exact likeness; small wings, cherubic face, even the seam marks on his clothes. The only thing that was different that Kevin could see is that the bow Pit was currently carrying was much fancier and much more solid-looking than the one the statue had. Still, Pit was practically climbing the thing, getting a closer look.

Mega Man’s was on the right side, somewhere in the middle. Like with Pit’s, the exactness of the statue was uncanny, and it seemed to make Mega Man uncomfortable. He quickly wrenched his eyes away and jogged to catch up to Lana, and instead Duke padded up to the statue and sniffed its base.

Simon didn’t go inspect his own statue, situated on the far left, though he did give it a rather long look. Once again, there was no difference that Kevin could see, right down to the way Simon’s face was beyond his age and the hard, but caring look in his eyes.

“Lana,” Mega Man said, “What is this?”

“These have been in this hall for as long as I can remember,” she replied. “I don’t know who sculpted them, or how they got here.”

“And how long have _you_ been here?” Simon asked.

Lana looked uncomfortable, but gave him an answer anyway. “As far as I know? Forever.”

Simon sought to ask further, but Lana didn’t seem willing to elaborate. Instead, she simply pushed open the doors to their destination.

“Welcome, heroes,” said a kind, mechanized voice.

The voice seemed to be coming from a massive computer at the end of the room. Something about it was out of a sci-fi movie, but Kevin couldn’t think of any movie that made such a room this… calm and inviting. It was high-tech, yes, but it stood installed in this fantasy castle, glittering lights dancing off the pearl-white marble and shining in a thousand colours. And Lana certainly seemed happy to see it.

She gestured as though to introduce the computer like a person. “This is Mainframe. It is the consciousness of the Palace of Power itself, and controls the systems under which it runs.”

“Its consciousness,” Simon repeated. Kevin wondered if that was what required further explanation before he continued, “Explain the latter half of that sentence?”

“I allow for communication and defense,” Mainframe itself explained, “Among many other tasks. But Lana is being generous— _she_, as my guardian, is the one in control here.”

Lana seemed to blush a little. “Don’t make me sound so important. I just live here.”

“And keep the Palace safe, _and_ called for help when we needed it, _and_ know how to repair me if need be…”

Before her face could turn wholly red, Pit chimed in. “So couldn’t you put up the shields yourself?”

Mainframe didn’t seem to mind Pit’s rudeness. “You see, I don’t exactly have arms to fix myself, _physically_. There’s still some work to do in that regard.”

“Oh. That makes sense.”

“But there is one more thing,” the computer said.

Lana looked up at it, surprised.

“We have a message from our enemies.”

At that, Lana seemed to go still— Kevin could see her wide eyes and the fact that though her hands didn’t move, they trembled in place, just enough to be noticeable. However, Lana didn’t let that show in her tone when she swallowed her shock and said, “Let’s see it, then.”

Mainframe opened up the message and the primary display changed.

The first thing that caught Kevin’s eye on the new display was an eye. Not a pair of eyes, just one eye— big, bulging, and yellowed where it should’ve been white. The iris was thin and dark red, and a massive pupil filled most of the space. Surrounding the eye were muscles and blood-red brain matter, and at that point there was no question who this was, although Kevin had never seen her from this angle before.

Kevin supposed that the _Metroid_ bad guys gave it away, to some degree. At least, that the likes of the terrible _Mother Brain_ were involved in this whole attack. Still, there was something jarring about seeing her. It felt like she was looking directly at him, her gaze not just boring a hole in him, but shooting right through like a bullet. It gave a whole new meaning to the phrase _if looks could kill_, Kevin thought.

The camera panned back, revealing more of Mother Brain’s form. She was sitting in a jar, the way Kevin remembered her from the game; her brain matter had spikes shooting out the top, in a completely haphazard pattern. Her eye blinked slowly. For a giant brain in a jar with no real body, she _exuded_ this sense of control and dominance that was hard for Kevin to try to explain.

“Guardians of the Palace of Power,” she began. Her voice was deceptively human, low and elegant, except for a subtle metallic ring beneath it. “I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your resistance. The more I know of your capabilities, the simpler it is to adjust my plans in accordance. You’ve been surprisingly stubborn.”

Kevin shivered.

“This has been but the beginning,” she continued. “My allies and I have tested the strength of your defenses, and my partner has seen fit to appear in person. She will be arriving shortly. In the meantime…”

A German-accented voice interrupted her from off-screen. “Am I not an equal partner as well, Mother Brain?”

Kevin glanced over at Mega Man, who recognized that voice instantly. Kevin didn’t, but it wasn’t hard to guess from the furrowed brow on his face. He mouthed: _Wily_.

“No.” Dr. Wily apparently had no retort for Mother Brain’s bluntness, because she was able to continue undeterred, addressing them anew. “If you surrender, your deaths will be swift. Else, you are choosing to accept a much more prolonged and difficult end on your part. There is no scenario in which you win: The Palace will fall to Medusa and I in time.”

There was a flap of agitated wings at that name.

“You have 60 seconds from the time of this message’s end to make your decision,” Mother Brain said. “Farewell.”

With no further word, the message ended, and Mainframe returned to its regular screen.

“What was that?” Simon asked.

Kevin went ahead and explained; the aliens they’d been fighting were led by Mother Brain. He made it quick—60 seconds, she’d said. Pit asked how to defeat her. They’d have to _find_ her first, and it didn’t seem like she was a walk away. Mega Man asked if there was a way to track her down, and at that Kevin could only give a helpless shrug.

The only thing he could think of was to find Samus Aran and get her to take down Mother Brain again, but where would they even _start_? Samus was an intergalactic bounty hunter, she could have literally been _anywhere_! Not to mention, once Kevin had gotten onto that line of thought, their 60 seconds were as good as over, and a bellowing laugh echoed from outside.

“Medusa!” Pit hissed.

Mainframe helpfully opened a feed showing them the outside of the Palace. Some miles away from the outer perimeter of the Palace grounds was a massive woman, far more beautiful than Kevin expected. Still, she had the writhing snakes for hair, the violet robes and the expectedly evil voice of a Disney villain, so it checked out.

With her was a _swarm_ of monsters, everything that could fly out of the three armies. While the sheer volume of baddies didn’t break the poker face of any of the three established heroes in the room, Kevin felt his stomach sink and he could see Lana slump in distress. Neither of them had the experience nor the confidence to try and handle _that many_ enemies at once.

Simon didn’t hesitate to begin with a plan. “Pit. This enemy is yours, is she not?”

“Yeah. I’ve beaten her once, and I can beat her again.”

_ Does he still have the Three Sacred Treasures?_ Kevin wondered.

“Then perhaps it is best if the three of us exit the Palace and give Lana the time to make her repairs.” He didn’t seem entirely sure of those words—and to be fair, he wasn’t exactly a _modern_ hero by any stretch of the imagination. He was probably unsure if he was using them right. “Kevin, you and your dog had best remain here with her.”

Well, he wasn’t going to argue with that. Duke sat next to Kevin, looking up at him curiously.

“Our goal may not necessarily be to defeat her now. We need only to keep her at bay.” Simon examined the field between them and the incoming army. “From what I’ve seen of your capabilities… I believe the young automaton has a greater range than I. I can slay the bottom-most enemies, he the mid-range, and the rest to the angel.”

The word ‘automaton’ got a small cringe out of Mega Man, but he didn’t say anything about it. Pit had already bounded back for the door, gesturing for the other heroes to follow. “C’mon, then! I’m not going to wait for her to get here!”

Without a word, Simon left with Pit. Mega Man trailed behind, glancing back in worry; he hesitated before leaving, searching a moment for the right words of reassurance to give.

“We can handle this,” he told them. “You just focus on getting those shields up and running, okay?”

With that, he jogged to catch up to the other two heroes.

Lana had been more exhausted than she’d let on earlier. And could anyone blame her? Kevin had seen how many bad guys had invaded the place she called home. Until maybe an hour ago, tops, it had just been _her_ fending them off. And even now that there _were_ other heroes to help out, the Palace’s safety still relied on her.

Duke padded up to Lana, his innocent gaze aimed up at her now. With a weary smile, she reached over and pet him.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Kevin asked her.

Lana looked over at him, her hand still poised on his dog’s head. After a moment, she decided. “Yeah. There are a few parts to this I think you can help me with.”

* * *

Off the monitor, Kevin and Lana could see how the battle was going outside. So far, so good, as he watched baddie after baddie drop like giant, sometimes mechanical flies. Medusa so far was still at a distance, far outside of the Palace’s reach but so massive that he dreaded to think what it would be like when she got close. Hopefully, he and Lana would be able to get the shields back up before that point.

Assuming, of course, they were strong enough to withstand the might of a final boss like Medusa.

Lana hadn’t needed anything of Kevin immediately. But, he had needed to note down a few numbers from various setting windows, which he could barely only try and parse as she closed and opened them. The numbers weren’t far off from NES passwords was about as far as he could think. The return of _Justin Bailey_ was something he caught before Lana booted up the command prompt and started asking for him to repeat the things he’d noted down.

She could type _fast_. He didn’t catch anything she tapped into the keyboard before a flood of new information swept across the window. After she was satisfied with some settings he had no idea the meaning of, she turned to him. “Kevin, can you tell me if everything’s connected in the back? Nothing’s broken?”

Kevin squeezed himself behind the computer and got a look. “Everything looks okay.”

“Great. You see the cables that are glowing?” Lana gestured. “I need those attached the main console and make sure that the lights above the sockets come on, so that you know you plugged them in properly.”

As Kevin picked up the cables, he noticed that they came through the wall from the hallway just outside. Most were pinned higher up along the wall, but the ones in his hands—as well as a few more which weren’t glowing—sat on either side of the floor. Kevin wasn’t sure why he was noticing this, but he kept note of it for the moment while he got to work plugging them in as requested.

“The bad guys broke through this thing before, didn’t they?” Kevin asked, even as he reconnected cables and checked lights. “How do you know they won’t break through it again?”

“Long story short?” Lana caught Kevin’s attention for a moment while she paused her own work. “Because I’m not the only one defending it anymore.”

Kevin was about to assume she meant that in the sense that they _were_ going to break again, but the presence of other heroes was going to make it harder to do so. Then he remembered the last hallway into this room, and swung his head back to see Duke had gone sniffing around there again—where the floor cables cut through the wall.

“The statues?”

Lana nodded. “They’re not just decoration. When a hero enters the hub world, their presence activates them, and they work like batteries.”

There was a sudden loud yelp on the monitor, and both of them swung their heads around.

Medusa was… much, _much_ closer now. She had managed to, with a wave of her hand, send Pit flying backwards. Worse yet, the glow around his wings seemed to be fading— Kevin had to imagine that it wasn’t a good sign. Mega Man and Simon were looking down an army that only seemed to, somehow, _grow_ instead of wane in spite of all the fodder they’d taken down.

Was that the effect of the Goddess of the Darkness?

Lana placed her hand on the console—on a specifically large button that Kevin guessed was supposed to reinstate the shields. But, on the monitor, crackles of blue energy zig-zagged off of the perimeter before fizzling out.

“Come on!” Lana hissed.

Duke barked, but there was something in his mouth. Kevin saw that the cable in Duke’s teeth was one of the ones off the floor—and he was about to say that it wasn’t needed when he realized that it was glowing. Had a new hero shown up? He looked up to get his answer.

A spaceship came down from above the Palace. Kevin only turned away for a few moments to grab the cable from Duke’s mouth and plug it in before looking back at it.

That orange ship, round and somewhat flat; a UFO ship stylized to resemble the helmet of its pilot. Kevin knew it from the ending of _Metroid_ just as well as he would recognize the hero herself, and couldn’t help but let out a cheer. Duke mirrored his enthusiasm, jumping in place and barking; Lana, on the other hand, finally had the time to show some awe as _Samus freaking Aran_ effortlessly shot down the enemies the other heroes couldn’t get to, peppering straight up to Medusa’s face.

Medusa hissed in a thousand voices, her massive form stumbling back. Pit looped in the air to land on the ship’s nose—whatever he was saying to Samus, they were too far away for Mainframe to pick up. Simon and Mega Man both took advantage of the army’s momentary distraction to tear through the rest of them.

Lana laid her hand on the console again and the whole room hummed with energy. Duke hopped around in a circle, and Lana exclaimed, “It worked! It worked!”

Sure enough, a blue forcefield began to form around the perimeter of the Palace courtyard and sealed Medusa and the rest of her army out. Samus’ ship, safely within the borders, turned towards the Palace; Simon and Mega Man followed suit on the ground.

Medusa leaned over and tapped the forcefield. The field bit back harshly, a flash of light sending her reeling away and zapping multiple enemies out of the air around her. Her snakes thrashed. She pouted, as though more disappointed than angered, and simply snapped her fingers. Within moments, she vanished in a flooding swirl of darkness.

“We have another message from our invaders,” Mainframe said.

Lana and Kevin both stood up. Bolstered by their victory, Lana replied, “Go ahead.”

Kevin hadn’t been too worried until Mother Brain reappeared onscreen— but something about the fact that her… “expression” had changed not at all suggested that this loss on her part was nothing more than an annoyance, at best. When she spoke, that concern upgraded to _part of her plan_.

“Well done, for imperfect animals.” Mother Brain’s adulation was as insincere as a villain’s mocking praise could be. “It seems that the Palace’s defenses adjust themselves quickly.”

Lana narrowed her eyes. She was about to open her mouth, but Mother Brain had more gloating she wanted to do.

“I anticipate that after this, you will be waiting for further strikes. I invite your resistance. They will fall before long.” The certainty in her voice made Kevin shiver. “My allies and I have more than you can ever imagine at our disposal—”

“Oh, shut up,” interrupted a woman on the heroes’ side of the screen.

Kevin gawked as Samus Aran lead the other heroes into the room—with her helmet off, her unwaveringly piercing glare shot right through the air right up to Mother Brain’s eye. She marched right across the room, striding with purpose, and Kevin hadn’t even registered himself getting out of the way until he realized Lana had done the same thing.

“You think a few new friends are going to make things easier for you?” she asked. Her tone boasted her own prowess without saying a word about herself. “It doesn’t matter how many times you come back, or how many people you drag into your schemes. Bolster your armies and upgrade yourself all you want, it won’t matter a bit. You’re _going down_, Mother.”

Mother Brain sneered down at her, cutting the connection with no word.

Samus cracked a smirk, relaxing her shoulders and turning to Lana and Kevin. “So. Was that all?”

* * *

“What a rude girl,” Medusa said.

“Hmph.” Mother Brain’s entire jar turned from Dr. Wily’s command console and towards the reappeared Medusa. The goddess was now at a more convenient height for the size of the laboratory, with her scaly arms crossed— but the gesture was for distance, after being defeated. “She’s always been like that.”

Of course, the little group of young mortals was hardly the annoying part. The truly irksome thing was the mortal they had in their own midst, who was storming into the laboratory with the halves of one of his robots in either hand.

“What kind of reconnaissance requires wasting several dozen soldiers and an entire week’s worth of planning?!” Dr. Wily demanded, tossing down the pieces of scrap metal. “Do you know how long it will take me to rebuild all of these?!”

“Your whining is unfounded,” Mother Brain scoffed. “Replaceable, every last one of them. Besides, you best be grateful. My Space Pirates are replacing your materials and lending their efforts to your work as we speak. Your _sons_ are getting their final repairs done, are they not?”

Dr. Wily grumbled and slumped where he stood.

“_Humans_. Always complaining,” Medusa mused. “It can’t be helped, Mother.”

The goddess then turned to Dr. Wily, pouring down the condescension as she dismissively waved her hand in a shooing motion. “Go on, now,” she said, “you have work to do.”

He grumbled some more and left.

“We got the information we needed.” Mother Brain cared not whether the human was still in earshot. “The Palace derives its strength from those who inhabit it, and its security bolsters as consequence.”

“And all we need to do,” Medusa purred, “is draw these children from their pretty little playpen.”


End file.
